Written Answers Nos. 47-61
47. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide a timeline for the introduction of paid domestic violence leave; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15360/22]
View answerSince its formation, this Government has made it clear that tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a key priority. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to investigate the provision of paid leave and social protection provision to victims of domestic violence.
The issue of domestic violence leave has been researched by officials in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. This research has included considering domestic violence leave at international level, identifying best practice and developing a suitable model for roll-out in Ireland.
The Department has engaged in a targeted consultation process with relevant stakeholders and social partners to examine how a scheme of leave should operate to address the needs of victims most effectively. This has included consulting with the monitoring committee of the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, employers' groups and trade unions. Stakeholders of the National Equality Strategy Committees have also been consulted.
A report is being prepared based on this work, which will be brought to Government shortly. The report will include recommendations on how best to support employees experiencing domestic abuse, including proposals for the introduction of domestic violence leave.
48. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of Ukrainian refugees, adults and children who have been taken in by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15102/22]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my Department is currently offering accommodation to Ukrainian refugees who need accommodation.
The situation remains fluid, with initial accommodation being offered via hotels and similar facilities. It is envisaged that people will move from these settings as more suitable accommodation comes on stream. As this time, a county-by-county is not available.
However, I can confirm that since 25 February to 21 March a total of 4,664 Ukrainian nationals have arrived in Ireland, this is comprised of 3,049 adults and 1,615 children.
49. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the childcare supports available to one-parent families. [15454/22]
View answerThe National Childcare Scheme represents the first ever statutory entitlement to financial support for early learning and childcare.
The scheme is designed so that those on lowest incomes receive the greatest support.
Where parents are not engaged in work or study, the NCS subsidises up to 20 hours per week. Where parents are engaged in work or study, the NCS subsidises up to 45 hours of per week.
A recent review of the National Childcare Scheme found that, amongst family types, single parents, particularly working single parents were most likely to report that the NCS had had a positive impact on family finances.
In addition the ECCE, the 2 year preschool scheme is universally available and free for parents.
The recommendations of an Expert Group to develop a new funding model for early learning and childcare were adopted by Government in December. This marks a new departure in State funding of the sector and is a significant step towards ensuring high-quality, affordable, sustainable and accessible services.
The Expert Group report informed the transformative package of measures for the sector committed in Budget 2022, including the Core Funding stream. Core Funding will operate from September 2022 to support improved quality, affordability, and sustainability.
Core Funding will be worth up to €69 million in 2022, equivalent to €207 million in a full year. It will require a commitment not to increase fees to parents from September 2021 rates. This feature of the scheme will ensure that parents feel the full affordability benefits of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and the Early Childhood Care and Education programme.
Full implementation of all recommendations will be progressed in the coming years as additional funding is secured through the annual Estimates process.
Once core funding is embedded and the concurrent changes to ECCE and NCS take effect, my Department will be looking to build a wider strategy targeting disadvantage informed by the work of the Expert Group across ELC settings. This strategy will aim to provide for a proportionate mix of universal supports and for targeted supports to support services and families who use them in alleviating the effects of socio-economic disadvantage.
51. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the key supports his Department provides to the Traveller and Roma community in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15308/22]
View answerThe National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS) provides a framework for action on Traveller and Roma issues. It represents a whole of Government approach and brings Government Departments and Agencies together with representatives of Traveller and Roma communities to focus on key issues in a structured. I chair the NTRIS Steering Committee.
My Department has an important funding role and provides funding to support a range of activities linked to NTRIS actions and to provide core funding to a number of Traveller and Roma organisations.
I secured a budget of €5.659m for 2022, and this funding will be used to provide core funding to a number of Traveller and Roma Organisations. The funding will also be used to support a number of important initiatives and projects, for example, employment projects, education projects, a number of social inclusion and cultural projects, mediation and counselling services and others.
The Covid19 pandemic has highlighted the specific nature and extent of the needs of the Roma and Traveller communities and I have secured an additional €880,000 in Dormant Account Funds which will be used to support a number of specific projects to support the communities in 2022.
Key projects funded
- School attendance is a specific challenge for some members of the Traveller and Roma communities. My Department is providing funding for a Pilot Programme to target attendance, participation and retention/school completion in specific Traveller and Roma Communities. The pilot teams work together with parents, children and young people, schools, Traveller and Roma communities and service providers to remove the barriers impacting on Traveller and Roma children’s attendance, participation and retention in education. The pilots are taking place in Galway, Wexford, Dublin and Cork.
- Employment is also an ongoing challenge in the Traveller and Roma community. My Department funds the Special Initiative for Travellers (SIT) to provide support for practical approaches to redressing the imbalance in Traveller under-employment, to support Travellers already engaged in the Traveller economy and provide other supports, including training, to address the needs of Travellers. The SIT funding includes Support Workers and assistance for employment and enterprise development. There are currently SITs in seven locations around Ireland.
- My Department funds both the Traveller Mediation Service and the Traveller Counselling Service. One of Traveller Mediation Service’s unique attributes is that it employs Travellers as mediators who have the necessary understanding of Traveller culture and who inspire confidence in Travellers to avail of the service.
- My Department also funds the National Traveller Women’s Forum which is working to empower Traveller Women. Additional funding was provided for community projects that support and promote leadership roles for Traveller and Roma Women.
- My Department has worked to advance projects that increase the visibility of Traveller culture and heritage. It has provided funding for Traveller Pride Week to empower national, regional and local organisations to celebrate Traveller and Roma culture and diversity.
- My Department is also progressing a project with the National Museum of Ireland to develop an online portal to the Traveller Culture collections. This programme will see the creation of an online portal of objects, archives, photography, recordings and other collections held in the National Cultural Institutions and National Folklore Archive illustrative of or, pertaining to Traveller culture and history.
The Programme for Government commits to a review of the Strategy and I will work with stakeholders to reviewing what has been achieved, and to developing new approaches, as necessary, with a particular focus on implementation and measurement. Proposals for an evaluation of the processes for implementation of three equality strategies - the Migrant Integration Strategy, the National Strategy for Women and Girls and NTRIS, which all concluded last year, have been sought. It is expected that the contract will be signed very shortly with work commencing in March and concluding in quarter three this year.
The reason for proceeding with an evaluation process that spans a number of equality strategies is to place the focus on implementation and to identify potential good practice in some areas that can be transferred to others. The objectives of our equality strategies remain largely relevant and the key challenge is to ensure better delivery. The issue of intersectionality also needs to be addressed in a more coherent manner.
The current NTRIS Steering Committee is remaining in operation during the Review process and our next meeting is scheduled for the end of March. Work will continue on implementing NTRIS’s actions, many of which remain highly relevant.
The Strategy Committee’s role will also be pivotal in developing the consultation process and the content for the successor strategy. The advice provided by Traveller and Roma organisations will directly shape the scope and focus of the next strategy.
52. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way his Department is supporting persons with disabilities to access training and employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15465/22]
View answerThe Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities 2015-2024 (CES) is the primary disability employment policy initiative in Ireland. It is a cross-government approach, bringing together actions by Government Departments and Agencies to address the barriers and challenges to employment of all persons with disabilities. The CES’s strategic priorities are to build skills, capacity and independence, to provide bridges and supports into work, to make work pay, to promote job retention and re-entry to work, to provide co-ordinated and seamless supports and to engage employers.
Implementation of the Strategy is undertaken through agreed action plans and is monitored by an Implementation Group with an independent chairperson, Mr Fergus Finlay. Currently the group is developing a final Action Plan for the period 2022 – 2024.
There have been a number of successful steps forward that we have taken under the CES to date. One such success is the decision to allow all young people leaving school or rehabilitative training to defer their day service placement by up to 3 years to allow them to pursue other opportunities such as further education or employment.
Other key areas of progress include the ongoing implementation of specific recommendations arising from the Make Work Pay Report and the production by the Public Appointment Service of a Guide to Promoting Inclusive Employment, the ‘Towards Work’ Project and ‘Employers for Change: A Disability Information Service’ which provides expert peer source of advice and information on employing staff with disabilities.
There are also several grants available to employers to make their workplaces more disability-friendly such as the Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant, the Personal Reader Grant, the Job Interview Interpreter Grant; and the Employee Retention Grant.
The Government is committed to increasing the target of persons with disabilities employed in the public sector from 3% to 6%. This new target will be enshrined in primary legislation (the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill) which is currently being drafted and will be introduced to the Houses shortly.
53. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on progress made towards the establishment of a national memorial and archive for survivors of institutional abuses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15313/22]
View answerThe establishment of a National Memorial and Records Centre is a core commitment in the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions. The National Centre will stand as a National Memorial in honour of those who were resident in Mother and Baby Homes, County Homes, Industrial Schools, Magdalene Laundries and related institutions.
This project also provides a basis for several other interdependent initiatives. I believe that this project will make a significant contribution in our journey of recognising and learning from the failures of the past, acknowledging the hurt which continues to be felt by survivors, and seeking to rebuild a relationship of trust with those who were so profoundly wronged.
The Secretary General to the Government has been appointed to lead a cross-Government process to advance work on a National Memorial and Records Centre. Funding has been provided to support this work in 2022. The National Centre will be designed to include an archive of records relating to institutional trauma, alongside personal accounts of survivors' lived experiences, as well as presenting the historical and social context. This process, which will include engagement with survivors, will develop an overarching vision and proposed approach for the creation of the National Centre. Once this scoping work is complete, a proposal will be brought to Government for approval.
My Department has already appointed an Archivist and established a dedicated Information Management Unit to lead on the preservation of, and access to, records held by the Department, including the Commission’s archive.
Importantly, the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022, which is making its way through the Oireachtas, will provide an initial legal basis to safeguard all relevant records.
In addition to the National Centre, work is being advanced separately with the local authorities to deliver on the commitment to support local memorialisation initiatives across the country. Furthermore, financial support is available from my Department through the Commemorative Grant scheme to support survivor groups in commemorating their experiences in a manner which fits their own specific needs.
As we have learned from our consultations, memorialisation is very important to survivors although it can mean many different things to different people. In recognising this variety of perspectives, further consultation will be undertaken to ensure these developments are informed by those most centrally involved with these experiences.
54. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his Department’s plans to update or replace the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15464/22]
View answerThe National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) 2017-2022 is one of two whole-of-government strategies in place, which include important measures to support people with disabilities in all aspects of their lives. The other is the Comprehensive Employment Strategy.
Acknowledging the importance of whole-of-government action on disability issues, it is planned that there will be a successor framework. It will have to be framed taking account of the need to prioritise implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In that regard, there are no plans to update the current strategy.
The NDIS is a key framework for policy and action to address the needs of persons with disabilities in Ireland, and to improve their lives in a practical sense. The NDIS specifically supports effective progress in delivering on the obligations set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, which is chaired by Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte includes representatives of several Government Departments and Agencies and the Disability Stakeholder Group (DSG).
A Mid Term Review of the NDIS was published in March 2020. The Review sets a framework for action on disability from now until the end of the lifetime of the Strategy. It involved a consultation process with disability stakeholders and with relevant departments and agencies. This process confirmed that stakeholders want the emphasis to be on implementing existing commitments within the Strategy and on fulfilling obligations that arise from Ireland’s ratification of the UNCRPD in 2018.
The approach being taken to meeting the obligations of the UNCRPD is one of progressive realisation, each year moving forward on key reforms, with the obligations arising from the Convention being met over time. Initial priority has been given to meeting legislative commitments.
My Department is in the process of developing a dedicated UNCRPD Implementation Plan which will provide a whole of Government framework for action to implement UNCRPD.
55. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his Department will review the refusal of ECCE for a child (details supplied) considering the circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15099/22]
View answerECCE provides universal, free pre-school to children in the eligible age range of 2 years and 8 months to 5 years and 6 months. ECCE is not mandatory but is a very popular scheme, with 95% of children in the eligible age cohort attending ECCE services.
The upper age limit of 5 years and 6 months for ECCE was set in consultation with the Department of Education and ensures that children transition into primary school with their peers. In certain circumstances an over age exemption can be given to enable children with additional needs to remain in ECCE past this age limit.
In making determinations on applications for over age exemptions, my Department is guided by a review of the over-age exemption process which was carried out in 2018 by the National Disability Authority (NDA) for this Department and the Department of Education.
In their published report, the NDA concluded that it is in the best interest of children with additional needs to transition to primary school with their age cohort, rather than being held back with children of a younger age. The report also sought to ensure that schools offer all the assistance necessary to meet the child's needs, with the assistance of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
With regard to the child referred to in the question, he did not meet the criteria for an over-age exemption and had already started in primary school when his parents applied for one. When his parents contacted my Department they were referred to the NCSE to enable them to get supports needed for their child to continue in primary school. I understand that the parents chose to withdraw their child from primary school with the intention of re-enrolling him in the 2022/23. The NCSE will be able to provide supports to help the parents and child to prepare for a return to school.
56. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when the report of the Anti-Racism Committee will be published, including the way he intends to implement its recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15305/22]
View answerI understand that I will receive a draft National Action Plan Against Racism from the independent Anti-Racism Committee in the next few weeks.
The National Anti-Racism Committee was established by Government in 2020 to develop a National Action Plan Against Racism. The publication of the Action Plan, when completed and adopted by Government, will fulfil a key commitment within the Programme for Government.
On 21 April 2021, I was pleased to publish the Anti-Racism Committee’s Interim Report, which set out the Committee’s initial ideas and plans for developing the National Action Plan Against Racism.
On the same day as the publication of the Interim Report, the Committee launched the public consultation phase of its work. During this phase, the Committee accepted written submissions, conducted an online survey, and held a series of consultation sessions with stakeholders in order better to understand the nature and different forms of racism that are present in Ireland today, and to help generate effective responses to it.
Having completed its public consultation, the Anti-Racism Committee is now engaged in the preparation of the National Action Plan Against Racism. My Department is supporting the Committee in its drafting of the Plan, and the Committee aims to submit it to me in the coming weeks. I then intend to bring this Plan to Government and, subject to the agreement of the Government, publish it.
The implementation of the Plan will require action across all Government Departments and Public Bodies, including Local Authorities. The private and not-for-profit sectors - including the community sector - will also have their part to play in implementing the plan.
57. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on the total admissions to the Irish Refugee Protection Programme since its inception, including when the next group of refugees from Jordan and Lebanon are expected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15312/22]
View answerAs you may know, the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established in 2015. Since then to the end of 2021, a total of 3,320 people have been brought in through IRPP.
404 Afghans were brought to Ireland under IRPP in 2021 and 48 Afghans and 3 Libyans in 2022.
Due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine it is difficult to estimate when the next group of refugees from Jordan and Lebanon are expected but a provisional arrival date has been set for May. The number of arrivals has not yet been finalised. A pre-selection process will take place in Lebanon next week to brief the next group of refugees on arrangements for their move to Ireland.
58. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to ensure that Ukrainian refugees can avail of childcare in an affordable and timely manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14469/22]
View answerMy Department has developed a comprehensive action plan to respond to the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) needs of Ukrainian children and their families.
Key actions include:
- Facilitating access to my Department’s funding schemes – the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS)
- Identifying ELC places available locally and nationally for Ukrainian children
- Proactively engaging with ELC services to explore the scope for any expansion in ELC capacity - with applications to Tusla to increase capacity in ELC services fast tracked, where possible.
- Providing an “ELC matching service” to link Ukrainian children to ELC services.
- Providing information and a host of supports to ELC services to help them meet the needs of Ukrainian children and their families, including training on trauma-informed practice and guidance on how ELC services can support children and families in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
- Providing information, supports and practical resources to Ukrainian families to support children’s early learning and opportunities for play, including information and Parent and Toddler Groups, designated play areas in temporary accommodation.
To support the implementation of this action plan, my Department has engaged with the Early Learning and Childcare Stakeholder Forum and is mobilising a range of organisations, including Pobal, Better Start, City/County Childcare Committees, Tusla and the National Voluntary Childcare Organisations. My Department is also engaging with the Department of Education to ensure our approach is aligned, where appropriate, to the approach taken in schools.
59. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of the plans by Tusla to provide a women’s refuge in the Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown area of County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14566/22]
View answerThe response to Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) is a cross Departmental and multi-Agency issue coordinated by the Department of Justice.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides supports for victims of domestic violence primarily through funded NGO service providers.
In 2021, Tusla allocated €28m in core funding for DSGBV services plus €2m in contingency funding to address challenges arising from Covid-19. Overall funding of DSGBV has increased from €23.8m in 2018 to approximately €31m in 2022. Funding in 2022 will support services to address cost pressures (COVID and non-COVID related) and maintain continuity of services.
Tusla supports Sonas, a provider of domestic violence services across Dublin, which currently provides a dedicated Outreach Support Worker and individual Safe Home accommodation units in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Services at Bray Women's Refuge are also in close proximity to many people in the County. However, I recognise it is not situated within the County boundaries.
Tusla has engaged with a feasibility study on provision of safe accommodation for victims of domestic violence in this area, undertaken by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in 2021. Tusla has advised my Department that there has been early stage discussions with stakeholders at the local level about potential future developments.
Tusla’s ‘Review of the Provision of Accommodation for Victims of Domestic Violence’ has been published. It assesses the distribution of safe emergency accommodation, examined the level of refuge provision, evidence of demand for services and unmet need, and analysis of proximity to refuge by local communities.
An Inter-Departmental Group, led by a senior official in the Department of Justice, has been established to examine the physical delivery of refuge accommodation, identify obstructions to delivery, address the perception of significant delays in provision and identify how they can be shortened.
Priority areas have been identified where there is greatest urgency in achieving safe accommodation for victims of DSGBV. There will be engagement with local authorities, Government departments and State agencies to source refuge provision, including Cavan and Monaghan. Work continues with partners to improve access to services and supports for victims.
60. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his Department’s plans to improve the pay and conditions of professionals in the childcare sector and to help increase the availability of childcare places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15481/22]
View answerOn this issue of pay and conditions, I firmly believe that the level of pay in the sector should reflect the value of the work that early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners do for children, for families, for society and the economy. The most recent available data indicates the average hourly wage for non-managerial staff in the sector in 2021 was €12.60, with many staff working part-time or on temporary contracts. These data underscore the need for significant improvement in both pay and conditions of employment.
As the Deputy is aware, the State is not the employer, and my Department does not set wage levels nor determine working conditions for staff in the sector. However, I am doing all that is in my power to address the issue.
In particular, I began a process in December 2020 to examine the possibility of regulating pay and conditions and the suitability of a Joint Labour Committee for the sector. This process culminated in the establishment of a Joint Labour Committee, which began meeting in December 2021.
Supported by the new Core Funding stream I announced in Budget 2022, there is now a real prospect of improvement in pay and conditions through the Joint Labour Committee. The scale of allocation under the new Core Funding stream - which is €73.5m in 2022 and equivalent to more than €221m in a full year - will, among a number of objectives, enable providers to meet the conditions that may be set in an Employment Regulation Order.
In addition, in December 2021, I published "Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare, 2022-2028", which includes commitments to develop career pathways, promote careers in the sector, and strengthen supports for continuing professional development, which will complement efforts to improve pay and conditions of employment in the sector.
On this issue of capacity, the availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority. To ensure that the supply of early learning and childcare places meets demand, my Department has, since 2015, funded the creation of more than 27,000 new places through an Annual Capital Programme.
Before the onset of Covid-19, national data indicated that, on the whole, supply of early learning and childcare places was meeting demand, with evidence of undersupply for certain age groups including children under 3, and in certain areas.
Data gathered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic revealed lower demand for early learning and childcare, and reduced occupancy among early learning and childcare services. Indeed, data captured in June 2021 found significant vacancy rates across the country – with the national vacancy rate averaging at 21%.
|
National Vacancy Rate By Age (June 2021) |
|
|
Up to 1 year (0-12 months) |
20% |
|
1 year+ to 2 years (13-24 months) |
10% |
|
2 years+ to 3 years (25-36 months) |
17% |
|
3 years+ to 4 years (37-48 months) |
17% |
|
4 years+ to 5 years (49-60 months) Non-School-Going |
12% |
|
4 years+ to 5 years (49-60 months) School-Going |
42% |
|
5 years+ to 6 years (61-72 months) Non-school going |
30% |
|
5 years+ to 6 years (61-72 months) School going |
48% |
|
6 years+ to 8 years (73-96 months) |
37% |
|
8 years+ |
34% |
|
Total |
21% |
My Department is continuing to monitor early learning and childcare capacity, particularly in light of the recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
Pobal has, using the data captured in June 2021 and current registration data, recently projected vacancy rates in February 2022. While this analysis shows a fall in vacancy rates from June 2021 to February 2022 – with vacancy rates falling from 21% to 19%, this analysis suggests that there is unused capacity across the country. Further analysis is being undertaken by Pobal to establish if this unused capacity varies by type of provision or location, to establish the degree of mismatch is supply and demand for certain cohorts or children or in certain areas. Pobal will also commence new data collection in April 2022, as part of the Annual Early Years Sector Profile survey. This will allow for updated information on capacity among early learning and childcare services to be established and will inform the necessary steps to be taken by my Department to address any issue of under supply, in addition to steps already in train.
Existing steps include:
- The new funding model, to roll out in September, which will provide funding for services aligned to costs of delivery so, for example, greater funding will be available to services that cater for younger children where costs of delivery are higher than older children.
- An allocation of €70m under revised National Development Plan (NDP) – with the majority of this funding earmarked for new places.
- An updating of the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings, by my Department in partnership with the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government (DHPLG)
- Proactive engagement of City/County Childcare Committees with early learning and childcare services in areas where there is unmet need for early learning and childcare from families.
61. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline the core funding proposals for the childcare sector and any delays in the publication of those proposals. [14269/22]
View answerBudget 2022 announced the introduction of the new Core Funding stream, the details of which were further articulated in Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare published in December 2021.
Core Funding will be available to Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers for the 2022/2023 programme year, subject to an Employment Regulation Order being agreed by the Joint Labour Committee and coming into effect.
Core Funding is designed to meet the combined objectives of:
- Improved affordability for parents by ensuring that fees do not increase;
- Improved quality through, among other things, better pay and conditions for the workforce by supporting agreement on an Employment Regulation Order through the Joint Labour Committee;
- Supporting the employment of graduate staff; and
- Improved sustainability and stability for services.
Under Core Funding providers will be supported in meeting their operating costs, including increased costs related to improved quality, in return for a commitment that fees to parents will not increase. The commitment not to increase fees will ensure that the full affordability benefits of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) are felt by parents.
Core Funding is equivalent to €221 million in a full programme year. €183 million of the €221 million will be distributed based on the capacity that the service is offering to provide (child places, age groups, hours and weeks). €38 million will be distributed in line with ELC graduate qualifications of ELC Lead Educators and Managers in ELC or combined ELC and SAC services.
The development of Core Funding is a significant milestone on the journey towards a new funding model. It aims to transform of the sector and establish a new type of partnership between providers and the State that reflects the importance of ELC and SAC for the public good.
On Monday 7th March I wrote to ELC and SAC providers to provide detailed information on how Core Funding will operate and to provide the rates at which it will be paid. I also launched an online tool or Ready Reckoner which allows ELC and SAC providers to see the potential impact of this funding on their individual service. The Core Funding Ready Reckoner is accessible to all on the Early Years Hive and is designed to give an idea of what services can expect to receive based on their characteristics and to allow different scenarios of provision to be tested. Further information is available on the website of the Early Years Hive and support, guidance and training is available through City and County Childcare Committees.
The key dates in preparation for Core Funding becoming operational for the 2022/2023 programme year are:
- 7th March: The online tool (Ready Reckoner) becomes available to provide approximate estimates of potential Core Funding values for individual services
Stage 1 of the application process opens in April:
- Begins with the Sector Profile and Income and Costs Survey, which is a pre-requisite for application for Core Funding
Stage 2 of the application process opens in June:
- Providers define their service’s profile and their capacity in detail in an online form
- Core Funding value is communicated to providers (subject to final verifications and confirmations)
- The provider contract will be published so applicants can review what they will later be asked to sign
Stage 3 of the application process opens in August:
- Individual contracts will start to be made available to successful applicants for signature
- End August: payments to providers commence. Payments will be made monthly in advance throughout the programme year.
In the interim period, until April 2022, ELC and SAC employers continue to be eligible to access the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) without having to demonstrate the reduction in turnover which is required of other employers. EWSS has provided very substantial investment in the sector since August 2020. Following the cessation of EWSS at end April 2022, ELC and SAC providers will have access to a Transition Fund between May and August in advance of the introduction of Core Funding from September. An announcement with further detail on the Transition Fund is due to be made shortly.
